More Than Worthy
by Gen's Deep Love
Summary: Throughout their journey searching for Jewel Shards, Inuyasha has made her feel like she was unworthy when she would reach out to him. But after certain circumstances lead Sesshomaru to Kagome's side, Sesshomaru thinks she is more than worthy.
1. Where They Stand

More Than Worthy

Chapter 1- Where they Stand

The cool breeze gently grazed her skin as Kagome gazed up at the night sky, looking at all the bright, twinkling stars and the shining full moon. No sound but the howling wind reached her ears, making the night peaceful to her, as if every thing had stopped so she had a chance to really breath and enjoy the cool night she rarely had a chance to feel.

Feeling a bit more relax from the tension in the campsite, Kagome thought back to earlier that day. After the long day's travel, they set up camp just as the sun had set. Yet, the mood as camp was set wasn't as hectic as it normally was. Usually Kagome and Inuyasha argued about how long it took until he let them take a rest. But that night, everyone felt the tension between the two.

Inuyasha and Kagome kept their distance from each other. Shippo had been unusually quiet all day when he usually would be making Inuyasha mad or playing a game with Kagome. Even Miroku wasn't being his pervert self; not once all day had his hand "accidentally" fallen on Sango's rear. Miroku and Sango noticed that it seem almost as if Kagome and Inuyasha were uncomfortable with each other.

Kagome couldn't take the stares of her friends, knowing they wanted to ask her what had happened with Inuyasha, but she didn't want to talk about it at the moment. Feeling like she needed space to think, she walked into the forest.

Before she realized it, she had walked out the forest of trees and into a clearing. She was far enough from the group to think but not to far away to lose sight of the camp sight. She needed to think; she needed to figure out how it happened, how she fell out of love with Inuyasha.

Her thoughts returned to the previous day.

_The intensity of the battle died as Inuyasha delivered the final blow, destroying the demon they had tracked down to retrieve a jewel shard. As the dirt started to settle down from the Wind Scar, Kagome approach what was left of the demon._

"_There. In his arm." She motioned to Inuyasha and went over to the arm that had been mutilated from the demon's body. As soon as she took the shard, it purified and the remains of the demon dissolved._

_She took out their piece of the Sacred Jewel. It was almost complete. With the new shard that they had just acquired, the only piece missing would be the one Naraku had in his possession and once they obtained that piece, the Sacred Jewel would finally be complete. But first they had to find Naraku and defeat him._

_Miroku stood next to Kagome and looked at the semi-complete Jewel. "Now, we may go and find Naraku to retrieve the final piece of the Sacred Shikon Jewel." Miroku looked at his right hand, the hand that bared his Wind Tunnel. He thought of the on-coming battle and the chances of defeating Naraku._

"_Your curse will finally be lifted." He turned his gaze from his hand to Sango._

"_That is if we are able to defeat him first. I am sure the battle will be quite difficult. And knowing Naraku, he will have many of his incarnations." Miroku knew, however, that that wasn't going to change how each one of them felt about __Naraku__. They would never give up until Naraku was defeated._

_He turned to Sango once again. "Have you figured out a way to release __Kohaku__ of Naraku's possession?" __Sango's__ expression immediately turned to one of sorrow. "No. I don't know what would happen to Kohaku if the shard were to be removed." She had tried so hard to figure out how to save her brother from Naraku but she just didn't know what to do._

"_But maybe you, Kagome, might be able to do something. If Kohaku…" Sango had a hard time considering that Kohaku might not survive if the jewel shard were to be removed, he was the only family she had left and she didn't want to lose him._

_But she knew that that could be a possibility, but she also had hope that Kagome might be able to help Kohaku. "If Kohaku were not to be able to survive without the shard, maybe you might be able to bring him back, Kagome."_

"_Me? How? I know that my powers have been growing and I've learned how to control it but I'm not sure if I'll be able to do that."_

" _I believe that Sango might be on to something, Kagome." __Miroku__ thought for a little before continuing. "You were born with the Sacred Shikon Jewel within your body. I believe the jewel is a part of you. When the jewel is complete and has served its purpose, I believe it will return to your body, making you complete, thus strengthening your __miko__ powers."_

"_Alright then, if the jewel does return to my body and increases my strength, then I will try my best to help Kohaku." Kagome turn to Sango with a determined look. "I promise, Sango, that I will give it everything I've got to help him." Sango gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you Kagome."_

"_However, Kagome…" Kagome and Sango turned to Miroku who had a serious look on his face. "Considering that the Sacred Shikon Jewel is a very powerful entity, you might need to keep training to be able to take the power of the jewel or else it might do you more harm than good."_

"_Okay. I'll keep training but even if I'm still not strong enough, I'll still try to help."_

_Shippo, who had been in the middle of the circle that Kagome, Miroku, and Sango had created, had listening and tried to absorb all the information they had just been discussing when he notice something was wrong. Not once had he hear Inuyasha's voice during the discussion. He looked around and then saw him standing a few feet away, under a tree._

"_Hey guys. I think something is wrong with Inuyasha." He climbed to Kagome's shoulder and pointed to his direction. He was still under the tree and Kagome noticed the thoughtful look on his face._

"_I'll go talk to him." Kagome gave Shippo to Sango. When she reached Inuyasha, he hadn't even noticed her presence. 'Something is definitely wrong if he hasn't sensed me.' She started to get a little worried._

"_Inuyasha?"_

"_Huh? Yeah, what is it?" He looked a little surprised and dazed._

"_Is there something the matter? You haven't said anything about what we're going to do after we find Naraku and you've been standing here alone, while we've been talking."_

"_Keh, everything's fine. We should get moving before it gets late." As Inuyasha started to walk, Kagome watched him, still worried. 'What could be on his mind that's troubling him?'_

_For the rest of the day, Inuyasha was quiet. Sango would try to ease Kagome's worries but she, herself, was a bit concern about what could have Inuyasha acting strangely. Miroku tried to think of things that would explain Inuyasha's behavior but nothing he thought of seem possible or it wouldn't make any sense._

_As the day started to turn into night, they had kept on walking until Kagome asked if they could stop and camp already. Without argue, Inuyasha agreed to set up camp, he almost sounded relieved. They started the fire and Kagome started preparing their meal. Still, Inuyasha hadn't uttered one word. Soon they were cleaning up and they all fell asleep. Except for Kagome and Inuyasha. _

_Kagome couldn't take it anymore. She was going to find out what was the matter with him even if it killed her. _

_She went to the tree Inuyasha was sitting under and stood right in front of him. It took a moment but he eventually looked up. For a moment he looked nervous and maybe a little embarrassed. She pushed that aside, determined to find out what was wrong with him._

"_Alright, Inuyasha, what's the matter and I know there IS something the matter so don't try to deny it." He lowered his gaze; the short hair on his forehead hid his face, making it impossible to read his expression. There was a long pause before he spoke._

"_Kagome, when we find Naraku, from that point on, life won't be the same. Sango and Miroku fight for their futures', while I'm fighting for my past." Inuyasha thought of the reasons Miroku and Sango fought so hard to be able to finally reach Naraku. _

_Miroku fought to lift the curse on his family; Sango fought to get back her only family left. Being the generous and kind person Kagome is, she fought for their happiness. But all he fought for was to get revenge for the all the pain that Naraku had cause Kikyo and himself._

"_Inuyasha, I don't understand. What about the Shikon Jewel? I thought you wanted to become a full-blooded youkai, isn't that what you've been fighting for?" Kagome didn't understand what had brought this up all of a sudden._

"_Kagome, you and the others talked about the start of your futures'. Sango will have Kohaku and live once again as family and once Miroku's curse is lifted, he will start that family with Sango. I only wished to become a full-blooded youkai because I wanted to be strong enough to protect the one I loved most so that we could live together as long as we could. But that future is gone and I have decided to create a new one. For the future that I picture now, what I chose doesn't need me to be full-blooded youkai and doesn't include the Shikon Jewel."_

_Kagome was confused as to where this was going. 'If Inuyasha didn't want to become a full-blooded youkai, then what did he really want? What future could he talking about that would make him change his mind about his wish on the jewel?'_

"_Kagome…a future with you is all a want now. I…I…I want you to be my mate." He looked up then, he wanted to see the look on her face as he told her that after so long, he had finally chosen her._

_However, for Kagome, it took him to long. She hadn't realized she didn't feel the same way for Inuyasha anymore, until that very moment. She realized her true feelings because she didn't feel happy and overjoyed like she knew she would have been a long time ago. Now she felt dread, dread because she was going to have to hurt Inuyasha when she told him that she had given up on him long ago and that she had accepted that he would never forget Kikyo._

"_Kagome?"_

_Now it was her turn to lower her gaze. She didn't want to hurt him. She truly didn't but she had to tell him the truth. No way was she going to lie to him and accept to be his mate, making him think that she still loved him. She had no choice but to hurt him and she hated herself for it._

"_Inuyasha, I'm…I'm sorry but I…I don't feel the same anymore." Kagome looked up then and saw the shocked look on Inuyasha's face. She felt a tear escape her eye as she saw his shock look turned into one of hurt._

"_I'm sorry Inuyasha." She was crying now, she would have given him anything so he didn't have to hurt like he did, but she knew nothing could take the pain away because she had felt the same thing long ago._

"_I waited a long time, Inuyasha. I tried reaching out to you, but you would turn me away and go to Kikyo. I tried so many times but you would always go to her. And I accepted that long ago. I thought that if I let you go, it would make you happy; that way, there wouldn't be anything that would come between you and Kikyo." Kagome watched his face to see if he understood, anything that told her what he was feeling but he had lowered his gaze once again._

"_I'm so sorry, Inuyasha. You're my best friend and if I could take the pain your feeling away, I would." _

_He looked up then, but his expression was unreadable._

"_Is that how you see me now, as your best friend?" He said it so low that she wasn't sure she heard him but she did and her respond was low as well._

"_Yes."_

"_I see." _

_Kagome watched him stand._

"_Where are you going?"_

_His back was turned to her and he started to walk without even looking back at her as he answered._

"_I have to go. Go back to bed. We're leaving early in the morning." And with that, he leaped towards the forest and vanished._

_Kagome just sat there, under the tree and kept replaying what had happen moments ago._

'_I'm so sorry, Inuyasha.'_

Kagome felt a tear leave her eye. She couldn't stop the sadness she felt when she thought about Inuyasha. She looked up at the sky once again.

'What now?' she thought as she remembered this morning.

When she awoke this morning, Inuyasha had come back. But she soon found out that everything had changed between them. He started to be distant. He wouldn't look at her when he spoke to her and right after they had finished setting up camp just a few moments ago, he had left, she didn't know where, but she knew for sure it was to get away from her.

'He knows that I only care for him as my best friends but he doesn't seem to want that, so where do we stand now?' she wondered sadly as she walked back to camp.

* * *

I had started this story before He's the Only Exception. But then that story come into my head and I was kind of stuck on this one so He's the Exception came out first. Anyways, here is this one and I hope readers enjoy this first chapter.

Please review. Any kind of comments are appreciated. Tell me if you like it enough to find out how this story ends so I can work harder on the next chapters so I can have them posted faster. I always get all bubbly with happiness when people review and that feeling helps me to keep writing. So please please people, review! ^_^


	2. Unexpected

**Chapter 2** - _Unexpected_

Kagome's nervousness came back as she walked back to camp, she wondered if Inuyasha had come back. But as she neared the campsite, she couldn't sense Inuyasha's aura, confirming he was not back yet.

She sighed. 'Inuyasha…'

Kagome hadn't realized that she had reached the camp until Sango brought her out of her thoughts. "Are you alright, Kagome?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine." She tried to smile to reassure her but Sango could clearly see it didn't reach her eyes. Nothing but sadness was visible in her eyes at the moment.

When Kagome had come back from her walk, Sango and Miroku immediately noticed the sadness and the pain it caused her heart. They were glad that Shippo had fallen asleep, that way; he didn't have to see how his surrogate mother was being torn apart by some grief she didn't want them to know about. The little one would surely feel bad that he hasn't been able to figure out a way to make her happy again.

They knew it had something to do with what was going on with Inuyasha but they didn't want to push her to tell them if she wasn't ready to tell them. But they hated to see her like this. They just wanted her to know that she was able to trust them to help her with anything; after all, she had done so much for them.

"Kagome, what ever it is that troubles you, you know that you can tell us." Miroku stood up from where he sat near the campfire and came to stand next to Sango. "We are your friends and we worry about you."

"I know guys and I'm sorry for making you worry. It's just…" Kagome sighed and hugged herself. She hadn't notice the night chill until that moment.

"Come. Let's go sit near the fire." Sango noticed her shiver from the cold and took Kagome by her shoulders, leading her to the campfire with Miroku right behind them.

Kagome sat down, Sango and Miroku sat facing her, the fire between them. They waited for Kagome to continue.

"Inuyasha told me that he… he finally had chosen me. He asked me to become his mate."

'So that was it!' thought Sango. Miroku had thought along that same line about what was causing the miko grief. "So you told him how you feel, didn't you?"

Kagome nodded.

Now everything made sense to both of them. Both Sango and Miroku knew that Kagome didn't love Inuyasha anymore. Knowing Kagome, she was feeling guilty for causing Inuyasha pain. After all the pain he had caused her, she still felt guilty for his.

"Kagome, don't blame yourself. You waited a long time for him. You even made the decision of stepping aside so he could be happy with Kikyo and as time passed, your heart was able to mend. But it's not your fault that Inuyasha didn't realize his mistake in time. If his hurting right now, its because of his choice, not yours."

All Kagome could do was lower her gaze. She understood, but she still couldn't stop feeling guilty. 'Just because Inuyasha hurt me, doesn't mean that I have to make him feel the same way now.'

Kagome knew that Sango and Miroku were only trying to help her, but no matter what they said, she still felt guilt.

Miroku was able to sense her distress. "Do not worry too much, Kagome. Just be yourself; Inuyasha will eventually understand that you no longer see him the same way and his pain will subside."

Kagome thought about it and decided it was worth a try. "I hope so."

"We should get some rest; it's getting late." Sango stretched her stiff limbs and yawned.

Seeing Sango made both Kagome and Miroku, realize how tired they actually were. They all said their good nights and as Kagome got into her sleeping bag, she couldn't help give one last thought about her situation.

'I really hope things go back to the way they were.'

As she closed her eyes and gladly let sleep overtake her, she had no idea of what was in store for her the next morning.

* * *

His tall form moved gracefully among the trees as the sun rose, announcing a new morning. At his heels, followed a small imp-like youkai, a two-headed dragon youkai, and a small human child.

The small human child lay asleep on the large two-headed dragon youkai while the imp-like youkai heartily followed behind his lord. Being youkai, Sesshomaru, Jaken, and Ah-Un could walk many nights without rest; however Sesshomaru would not push Rin. He knew how long she was able to keep going without rest. And as she reached her limits, he would allow her to ride Ah-Un and rest.

As he thought about his young human ward, he gave thought to something he had witness two days ago as they had walked near a human village.

Sesshomaru could smell the human village from the far distance they still were from it. He normally would avoid humans but he considered that there might be some sort of article that Rin might require and if she wished to, she could visit the village. She never did leave his side when he did this but nonetheless, he would always travel near a human village.

_As they were passing the village, Sesshomaru did not feel the intent of leaving from Rin once again. However, all of a sudden, he felt longing radiating off of her. He turned to her to see what was causing her to feel this. He saw her looking towards the human village and turned as well._

_Of in the distance, there were rice fields and he could see a human woman and her child. As they were tending to the fields, they sang and laughed together. They seemed to care and love each other._

'_So, Rin longs for a mother.' Sesshomaru had never considered that she would ever be in need of a mother figure. She seemed content with him. 'However, she is a child, it is natural for a child to seek affection from both parents.' Maybe it was time for him to look for a mate._

_He turned forward again. "Is something the matter, Rin?"_

_As her attention was diverted from the human mother and child to him, he felt her longing disappear and replaced with one of content._

"No, Sesshomaru-sama." She smiled and started skipping as they continued to walk.

As Sesshomaru returned from the memory, he had continued to walk and looked back to find Rin still asleep on Ah-Un's back.

The issue of taking a mate had been on his mind even before Rin. He wasn't considering taking a mate so soon but he knew he would have to eventually. However, considering that it was for Rin's well being, he would allow this change.

But who could be worthy enough?

He didn't know how he was going to find a worthy mate, but he knew it would have be someone that would care for Rin and that Rin would care for her as well. Someone who would be able to protect her if he ever were not able to do so. She would have to be his match or stronger.

Out of all the females he has come across, there has been only one that has come close.

Before he could even continue his train of thought, he stopped as he sensed a demonic aura near by, as well as a strong power from the miko that had been on his mind just a second ago.

"What is it, Sesshomaru-sama?" Rin had woken up as she had felt Ah-Un come to an abrupt stop.

"The half-breed is nearby."

"Inuyasha!" said Jaken with a disgusted tone.

As she heard Jaken say Inuyasha's name, Rin immediately got off of Ah-Un and ran to her lord. 'If Sesshomaru-sama's younger brother is near, then that means that Kagome-sama is too.'

Rin had grown to care for Kagome. Kagome was always kind to her. Whenever they crossed paths, Kagome would always give her some foreign treat called "candy" and she would also teach her games. Rin rarely saw her so whenever Sesshomaru went looking for a fight with Inuyasha, she would tag along her lord to go see her.

However, she hadn't seen her lately and thought this was a perfect opportunity to see her.

"Sesshomaru-sama, may we please go visit Kagome-sama? She has always been nice to me and I want to go give her flowers. May we please go?"

Sesshomaru thought for a moment. He had noticed the affection Rin had developed for the miko. But was she really what he is looking for? She was just a human. But as he thought more about the miko and all their encounters, he knew that she wasn't just human but a very formidable opponent.

Sesshomaru was brought out of his thoughts by Jaken's usual uproar. "You insolent girl! How dare you even suggest…" But before he could finish, Sesshomaru cut in.

"We will go see the miko."

"B-B-But my Lord…" However, his protests were interrupted as well by Rin.

"Thank you, Sesshomaru-sama. I will start picking the most beautiful flowers I can find." She ran back to Ah-Un and took his reins. "Come Ah-Un. You can help me."

Sesshomaru turned and sought out Kagome's scent. It had been a while since he let himself take her scent in. She smelled of a foreign floral that he once came across during a distant travel he made. He had done some research on the flower and discovered it was called a Jasmine.

He had found the scent pleasant and never forgot it. He hadn't come across the scent again until the miko showed up. When he had discovered that the smell of Jasmine was coming from her, he had despised her. Why was such a pleasant scent joined with a weak mortal girl?

However, she had changed his perception of her. When she pulled out the Tetsusaiga from his father's grave, he immediately realized she was no weak, ordinary human. There was something he was able to feel coming deep within the girl, it was faint, but he felt her power and he was able to feel that it wasn't fully developed.

Now, her power was almost as great as his. Almost, but he knew that it would surpass his own in time if the miko kept up with her training. Now, she wasn't a weak human but a very powerful miko and he had grown to respect her.

As he thought more about, he had to admit to himself that the miko intrigued him. She possessed traits that he viewed a mate should possess. He never would have thought that he would ever consider the miko as a potential mate. However, he needed to acquire more knowledge of her to be certain that it was her own strength and not luck in her favor.

He caught the odor of Jasmines and started heading towards its direction, with Rin looking for flowers with Ah-Un and a grumpy Jaken behind him.

* * *

Kagome could hardly believe it. It worked; it actually worked. She had acted like nothing was strange between them and things with Inuyasha seem to have started to go back to normal.

When Kagome had woken up, Inuyasha was on the opposite side of camp, resting on a tree branch as usual, while everyone else was still sleeping. She remembered what Miroku had said to her and tried to think of a typical way to approach Inuyasha.

"Good Morning, Inuyasha." She tried to sound as cheerful as she possibly could but not so much as to make it sound like she was being cheerful by force.

"Morning." He said it so low; she wasn't sure what he had said at first.

'I need something more, something to get him riled up.' She thought quickly and came up with something perfect. There was nothing Inuyasha hated more than getting ordered around.

"I need you to go get me some water for breakfast." She smiled in triumph as she saw Inuyasha's ears twitch and his body tense up like he always did when he got mad.

"What do I look like, your lap dog? Keh, go get it yourself!"

Kagome was trying so hard not to laugh. It was working, now all she had to do was push him a little more so she could get him in his usual crater. She would know for certain how Inuyasha would take things from then on.

"Come on, Inuyasha. Everyone else is sleeping and I don't want to wake them up yet. I can't do it by myself either."

"Of course you can't. You're just a weak human." Hook, line, and sinker!

"Inuyasha, sit!" All she saw was a red blur fall from the branch Inuyasha was just a moment ago to find him face down on the ground. This was it, if Inuyasha yelled at her, she would know for certain Inuyasha would heal in due time. But if he reacted in a different way, she just wasn't sure how things would play out between them from then on.

"What the hell, Kagome! What was that for?"

"Nothing, never mind." She quickly turned around and walked away. As she left, she was able to hear something he was saying to myself.

"Ch, not like I said something wrong."

She smiled to herself and felt a giggle bubbly up inside her. As she prepared breakfast and all through out their meal, Inuyasha kept nagging for her to hurry up, it was already late and that they were losing time. But this time, Kagome didn't get mad as usual. Instead, she wore a small smile on her face. Inuyasha seemed to be coming to terms with their relationship. It seemed that everything was going to fine between them.

"Can't you guys eat any faster? We're burning daylight!" Inuyasha's cheeks were full with half eaten food as he tried to make everyone get a move on.

Kagome was finishing the last of her ramen when she felt a very strong demonic aura. Just when she turned to Inuyasha to see if he had sensed it, she saw his body stiffen and he turned around.

"What's wrong?" Miroku noticed Kagome and Inuyasha had turned completely serious and immediately knew something was not right.

"It's Sesshomaru."

As soon as Kagome said Sesshomaru's name, Inuyasha unsheathed Tetsusaiga and took his fighting stance. Not a moment later, Sesshomaru walked out of the forest, towards them.

Inuyasha almost let out a growl. "What do you want, Sesshomaru?"

Even as Inuyasha spoke to him, Sesshomaru continued coming towards them.

"I have come to see the miko."

Kagome suddenly became nervous. 'Me? Why would Sesshomaru come looking for me?'

They were all stunned at the reason of Sesshomaru's visit; they didn't notice that Sesshomaru was headed for Kagome at first. Inuyasha came out of his stupor first as he caught Kagome's movement when she started stepping back as Sesshomaru came closer to her.

He immediately went to her side, blocking Sesshomaru's path to her. He stopped a few feet from them.

"What do you want with Kagome?"

Sesshomaru's usual unimpressionable face betrayed nothing. "Rin wished to visit the miko. And there is something I would like to discuss with the miko as well."

Hearing that Rin wanted to see her immediately calmed Kagome. She thought that whatever Sesshomaru wanted to talk to her about was about Rin as well.

Before Inuyasha could say anything, Kagome spoke up first. "Where is she? I would like to see her too."

"She is with Ah-Un and Jaken, across the stream. Knowing that the pitiful half-breed might attack my person immediately after I made myself known, I left her at a distant from harm. I told her that I would bring you to her."

At this, Inuyasha let out the growl he was holding back. "You, bastard! You aren't going anywhere with Kagome." And immediately charged, closing the few feet between them with Tetsusaiga in the air. Sesshomaru swiftly unsheathed Tokijin as Inuyasha brought down Tetsusaiga on him, commencing the fight.

Kagome with Shippo in her arms, Sango with Kirara on her shoulder and Miroku moved a distance a way to avoid getting caught in one of the brothers' strikes in their usual "brotherly quarrel".

"This is probably going to take a while. Why don't you go ahead and go see Rin, Kagome. I know that you've grown attached to her and want to go see her. It has been I while." Sango knew how important Rin had become to Kagome. After Rin's visits, Kagome would go on and on about the little girl and saw the adoration in her eyes.

In such a short time, Kagome began to see Rin like a daughter. And Sango has seen that Rin also sees Kagome like a mother. Every time she visited, she would always tell her stories of her time with Sesshomaru. She would share what he taught her and would seek Kagome's praise when she shared her little endeavors. They always cherish their time together so Sango made her the suggestion now.

However, Kagome wasn't sure about leaving Inuyasha. "But what about Inuyasha?"

"Do not worry about Inuyasha, Kagome. He can manage his own against Sesshomaru. You know he will never let himself go down easy. Besides, I and Sango will be here to make sure nothing get out of hand."

Miroku also knew of the new developed affection between Kagome and Rin and thought this would be a good opportunity for Kagome to get a break from all her recent worries. Spending quality time with her children always lifted her spirits.

"Oh, thanks so much guys. It really has been a while since I've seen Rin." Kagome looks down at Shippo in her arms. "Would you like to come with me, Shippo?"

"Yeah, it's been a while since we played a game of tag." Shippo had also grown attached to Rin and always love to play the games Kagome taught them with her. He loved the idea of having a younger sister.

"All right then, we're off. If things get rough, please come get me. Later!" Miroku and Sango waved at her as she left.

* * *

**_Author's note:_**

_I'm not really sure how I like this chapter. I feel different things for the beginning, middle and end. But that doesn't matter, what does matter is what the readers think, so tell me what you guys think. Constructive criticism is also appreciated._

_I would like to thank everyone that favorited (I don't think that's a word, LOL) this story. But I would especially like to thank:_

_- Trinity Fenton-Phantom_

_- casedeputy_

_and_

_- yuseirulez34_

_for taking time to share their thoughts about the beginning of this story. Thank you guys so much! OXOX_


	3. Surprises

**Chapter 3** – Surprises

Rin sat patiently on the streams edge, the cool feel of the water on her feet. She had lead Ah-Un to the stream to drink. As she watched their reflection on the water, she thought of Kagome and how she would like the new flowers she picked for her. Kagome always loved the flowers Rin gave her; she would take the prettiest one of all and put it in her hair.

"Would you stop that insufferable noise, it is most annoying!" Jaken yelled from the tree he was resting under, right behind her.

Rin hadn't realized she was humming a random tune until Jaken had brought her out of her thoughts. "I'm sorry, Master Jaken. But I can't help it; I'm just so excited. I can't wait to see Kagome-sama."

"What is so special about that human wench? How could you lead our lord to come see her?"

"I'm sorry, but it has been a long time since I last saw her and she was close by. Besides, I think Sesshomaru-sama wanted to see her too." Rin had noticed her lord go into thought when she mentioned the miko.

Hearing that, Jaken gasped so loud and deep, Rin thought his lungs would pop from taking in so much air.

"How could you even think that Sesshomaru-sama would want to fraternize with that human girl? To even consider that is the most atrocious…" Jaken had started his usual ramblings and Rin just turned around and watched the waters surface once again, ignoring him.

Suddenly, Jaken stopped and immediately stood up. Rin turned to find him on alert. He then ran to her side and struck the end of the Two- headed staff on the ground, in front of him. "Get behind me, Rin, quickly."

She quickly got out of the water and stood behind Jaken. "What is it, Master Jaken?" She started to get nervous as she felt his body stiffen.

Jaken felt two auras nearing the stream. With the stream behind him and dam of rocks a few feet upstream that held a body of water bigger than a village, covering his right side, he was able to put all his focus in front of him and on his left side.

He felt the most threatening one at front and the second one; he felt was no real threat at all. 'They are heading this way. I must protect Rin at all costs.'

He tightened his grip on the staff as Jaken felt the auras coming closer to them. When he felt the aura of whoever wielded such power about to emerge from the trees, he unleashed the staff's power.

Rin hid her face behind Jaken, filled with fright, while Jaken watched and waited for the fire to clear up to see if his attack had worked.

As the last of the flames diminished, Jaken was able to see that a barrier had been positioned to protect whoever had come intruding.

Before Jaken could unleash another attack he heard a voice coming from inside the barrier.

"Hey! Wait, it's me, Kagome."

Kagome had formed the barrier at the last moment. When she entered the clearing, she immediately felt the attack. On instincts, she turned behind her to swooped Shippo into her arms quickly and held him close to her chest. She covered Shippo with her body and placed the barrier. Only a second later, she felt the attack collide with her barrier.

She turned to face her attacker and saw Jaken with his Two-headed Staff. As she saw that he was about to unleash another attack, she called out.

She did away with the barrier and stepped closer so Jaken would see her.

"Kagome-sama!" When Rin heard Kagome call out, she had looked up from behind Jaken and saw it was she. She immediately came out from behind Jaken and ran to her.

Kagome ran to her as well, with Shippo in her arms, and came together for a group hug.

Jaken looked around the miko and notice that Sesshomaru was not with her. "Wench, where is my lord? He was to bring you here."

Kagome looked up from her group hug to Jaken. "Inuyasha forced Sesshomaru into another fight; and for your information, it's Kagome, not wench.

Jaken ignored the last portion of what she had said and started for the direction she had come from. "I must go to Lord Sesshomaru and see if he needs me. He is probably done with Inuyasha by now."

Kagome watched as he disappeared into the forest, worrying once again. 'One of this days… I'm going to give that toad a piece of my mind.' Her attention was suddenly drawn away from the spot she last saw Jaken to Rin who tugged at her sleeve.

Rin had seen the concern in Kagome's eyes after what Jaken had said. "Do not worry, Kagome-sama. Lord Sesshomaru would never really hurt Inuyasha."

Kagome stared at the little girl for a moment. What shocked her wasn't the fact that Rin thought that she was worried about Inuyasha, but that she was completely certain Sesshomaru wouldn't actually kill him. "Why would you say that, Rin?"

"Because Lord Sesshomaru always stops before Inuyasha can get hurt any further than when he is when they fight. If Lord Sesshomaru would really want to hurt him, he would have no trouble of hurting him when Inuyasha is too hurt to continue to fight."

Kagome was completely shocked by this. She was right, Kagome realized. She thought back to all the fights between Sesshomaru and Inuyasha. There had been many that where interrupted and sometimes she had to save Inuyasha from Sesshomaru when he wasn't in the mood for him but Inuyasha had kept pushing his buttons.

However, when the fights had gone all out, with no interruptions, Sesshomaru would always hold back when Inuyasha had gotten enough, when he could no longer fight.

Kagome had never really noticed this until now. If Rin had not pointed out, she probably would never have really noticed. It seemed that she was very observant for her age. It made her wonder what else she has been able to conclude just by observing her group when she came to visit.

"You're right, Rin, so I won't worried about it."

The little girl smiled up at her mother figure, pleased with herself for helping her feel better.

"Alright then, what do you guys want to do first?"

"Oh, wait! I have something for you, Kagome-sama." Rin remembered the gift she was working so hard to give to Kagome, and ran to Ah-Un to get the little bouquet of wild flowers that she had put on his saddle to hold.

Ah-Un lay under the tree Jaken had rested under. He had recognized Kagome and the kit's aura. Knowing she was no threat to the child, he had moved from the stream to the tree during the confusion.

Rin climbed up on to his back and untied the small grass rope that held the small bouquet tied to the saddle, which she made by braiding three long grass blades together, and ran back to Kagome.

Kagome just watched Rin as she ran to Ah-Un and when she saw her coming back with a little bouquet in her hands, she couldn't help but smile.

"These are for you, Kagome-sama. I picked the prettiest ones just for you and one for Shippo too."

"Aaaw, thank you so much Rin, they're beautiful." As she received 5 white little wildflowers from Rin, and Shippo received his yellow one, she remembered that Sesshomaru had wanted to talk to her about something but didn't get to say about what.

"Rin, do you know why, exactly, Sesshomaru came to see me? I know that you asked to see me but he said there was something he wanted to speak to me about; do you know what it might be?"

"No, Kagome-sama, did he say something about it?"

"Not really. I guess he'll just tell me when he comes back. Anyhow, now that you have shared your gift with us, we have a gift for you too, Rin."

Shippo look up at Kagome. "We do?"

Not knowing what Kagome was talking about, since she never discussed getting Rin a present with him at least, he was very confused.

"Actually, it's a gift for Rin and you, Shippo. On my last trip home, I brought something new for both of you."

"Really! What is it?" They both cried in unison.

Kagome couldn't help giggle at their excitement. "How about I show you?"

She pulled her backpack strap off her shoulder and pulled on it to bring her backpack before her.

"I was getting more supplies when I saw my mom washing the dishes. She had made bubbles and they were some floating around her. I remembered that when I was a little girl, I use to love making bubbles so I thought you guys might enjoy them too."

She rummaged through her backpack a little and took out three little bottles. She gave one to Rin and one to Shippo as she instructed on how to make bubbles.

"Just open the top and inside is a little stick with some soapy water. Pull it out and when you see the hole in the round shape at the end is covered with something you can see through, blow and the bubbles will come out." She gently blew on the little wand she had from her bottle and a small group of bubbles left the wand. "You see. Now you try."

Both children took the little wand from there bottles and blew at the circle but nothing happened.

Kagome dipped her wand in the soapy water and kneeled down to the children's level so they could watch more closely. "You have to blow gently or else it won't work right."

She demonstrated once again, carefully blowing into the circle and the bubbles appeared once again.

They watched closely and followed exactly what she did. Once their wands were all soapy, they gently blew, creating their first bubbles.

"We did it!" Rin shouted, jumping up and down with excitement. Shippo just stared at the group of bubbles with amazement clear in his eyes. He raised his arm to touch one but just as his finger made contact with it, it popped. "Wow, thanks Kagome!" He dipped his wand in the soap and made more.

"You're welcome." She smiled as she watched them continue to blow bubbles, happiness printed clearly in their faces. "How about we make bubbles to fill the whole clearing?"

"Okay!" And made bubbles as quickly as they could before they could pop without having covered the whole clearing.

In no time, they filled the whole clearing. Ah-Un watched them the whole time and at one point, a bubble had popped on one of his noses and had shook his head from the tickle the bubble had caused. Kagome had seen it and couldn't help giggle.

Suddenly, everything seemed to stop for Kagome. Her mind blocked out everything, everything except that feeling. A feeling of pure evil power. It was nothing like she ever felt. Not even Naraku gave of this kind of feeling; it was different. Naraku gave out a feeling of evil, wickedness but that was just it. While this feeling, it's aura, it was so dark; she felt she might suffocate from it. It was a feeling of raw power but wild, negative.

There was only one demon that she could think of that could give this kind of aura but even then she couldn't get her mind to grasp the idea. 'This can't be. Their kind are rare, even Sango and Inuyasha have never crossed paths with this kind of demon. The chances of it being what I think it is are almost 1 of a million. What could…?'

She thought what could have attracted the demon their way. She thought hard until she realized the reason why most demons are always attracted her way. 'The Jewel Shards!'

Kagome had only heard stories of this kind of demon from Sango and Inuyasha. Sango had told her that they were almost extinct because they couldn't control their beast. They had no conscious; they were driven by instinct. They couldn't tell the difference between ally and foe. They even killed their own kind. And with no control, their power was fully unleashed. And with the Jewel Shards… she didn't even want to think about it.

Other demons knew that they were a threat of getting wiped out, so they were hunted down and killed. It wasn't impossible to kill them, but it was difficult because of their untamed power. The opponent had to be stronger or out smart it to kill it.

"We have to get out of here." It came out as a whisper but it got Shippo's attention.

"Kagome?"

She came out of her stupor and sharply turned to him with a dire look that it shook him to his core.

"We have to get out of here. Now." She quickly got out her bow and arrows and threw her backpack over her shoulders.

"But what's going on?" Shippo had never seen her like this and he was scared. Rin also notice Kagome's change of mood and was scared as well.

"Something is coming this way" she searched for the aura, finding it was getting closer and fast, " and it's much faster than I have ever would have thought. There is no time to explain. We have to go." And with that said, she grabbed the children and ran to Ah-Un.

She searched for the aura again and realized there wouldn't be enough time to get away. As she reached Ah-Un, he had risen from where he had lain; he had felt it too. She put the Shippo and Rin on his back, walked to his front and held his two heads in each hand.

"Please Ah-Un, I know I am no one to give you orders but you know danger is coming and the children are not safe here. Take them some place safe."

He didn't need to be told twice. As he was about to take the air, there was a blast a few feet upstream. Kagome felt heat as the force from the blast pushed her against Ah-Un, it was strong and time had run out. She turned to find trees ablaze, some completely burn up. She had no doubt in her mind of what demon it was now. She to get Ah-Un to leave before the demon arrived at the clearing or else they would all end up getting hurt.

"Now, Ah-Un, go!"

"But what about you, Kagome?" Shippo's eyes were filled with unshed tears as well as Rin's. "Yeah, Kagome-sama, you have to come with us!"

"There is no time. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, I promise." Ah-Un then leapt into the air and took to the sky. She watched them until she felt the demon's overwhelming aura enter the clearing.

She turned to find that which she had heard only in stories. She found that which she feared most after what she saw happen to Inuyasha, a demon with its beast fully in control.

She found a rabid-looking dragon demon staring straight at her.

* * *

I really liked how this chapter turned out. And I apologize for taking so long to update. As I was writing the chapter, there were parts that just weren't to my liking and being the perfectionist I am, I wouldn't stop rewriting it until I was satisfied. And excuse me if there are any grammatical or spelling errors, I do proof read every chapter, but there are times when I miss a few things.

Anyways, I want to thank readers who have reviewed. I always listen to what each one has to say and take it into consideration when I write as well as does who praise it; they make me feel like I have completed my purpose as a writer.

I give my thanks to:

-EmmerLou5188

-casedeputy

-Dragonflamecrystal

-jtwsnw20

-Hibikari

-sousie

-violeteyes

and

-Mermaid Caren

Please keep reviewing, I love to hear all the readers' opinions.


	4. Her Strength

**Chapter 4** – _Her Strength_

The first thing Kagome noticed was the youkai's eyes. They were crimson, with a feral look in its eyes. Right in the middle of those bloody eyes was a long dagger-like spike coming out on top of its snout. Its body was massive, equal to the trees in height. The dragon's whole body was black as coal, with the exception of its belly, which was a dark violet. Its skin was thick and rough. Three long, bulky tails fanned out like snakes around the youkai's body, five long spikes at the end of its tail. Kagome could see it had long sharp teeth as it gave out a loud roar and charged towards her, making the first move.

In just one second, the clearing became a battlefield. Without warning, the youkai charged so fast, Kagome didn't even sense its movement until it was almost upon her. Instinctively, she jumped and curled her body close together, rolling on her shoulder, out of the way.

'That… how … how can it move that fast? If I can't sense its movements, let alone see it, how will I take it down? The fastest youkai I have ever come across is Sesshomaru and I'm able to keep up and sense him in battle. Could it move at that speed because of the dragon youkai's untamed power?'

Before Kagome could speculate any further, the dragon youkai was moving towards her again. Kagome watched it, as it came closer, focused on trying to read the youkai's body movements. But it was no use, by the time she sensed how close the dragon youkai was, it made its move. It seemed it was going to collide with her, but before the youkai could slam into her, it reduced its speed quickly and swiftly swung all three of its tails at her.

Instinct took over her once again as she used all the power in her body and executed a strong front handspring, strong and powerful, avoiding the strike. Kagome stunned herself. She hadn't practiced gymnastics in a long while. To get a strong front handspring, and that high, takes years of continuous practice and training. It seemed that her body still held the years of training before she stopped. She was going to have to thank her mother for convincing her to take up gymnastics when she went back home.

Kagome landed her handspring with ease and as she turned to locate her enemy, she saw it had recovered fast from the failed attack and swung its tails at her once again, giving her no chance of blocking the oncoming blow. Pain was all she was able to feel as all three tails hit her right on her chest and stomach; the force of the blow throwing her a few feet into a tree, knocking the wind out of her.

Her whole body ached and from the momentarily lack of oxygen, she was disoriented. Not finding the energy to stand on her feet, Kagome slid from the tree's trunk onto her knees. Struggling to get air back into her lungs, she fell forwards, falling on her hands to stop herself from falling completely the ground. Suddenly, she heard a thunderous roar and felt the ground quake. Feeling the intensity of the quake increase quickly, she automatically rolled to the side.

Gasping, she looked back at where she had been a few moments ago and saw the youkai had charged at her again and had aimed to pierce her with the ends of its tails, but the spikes had found the ground instead. With a bit of difficulty, she got up and tried to come up with a plan as the dragon started to come at her slowly, as if mocking the state she was in.

'I have to do something. If I keep on the defensive, I'm going to get drained quickly and then I'm going be in real trouble. But what can I do? It's too fast so using my bow and arrows is no use. Maybe I should try to slow it down, but how?'

Kagome watched the youkai slowly approach; observing it attentively, trying to find an opening while the youkai took the time to toy with her. While she watched it, Kagome also tried to examine her situation and what she might be able to do.

'Hmm…Maybe I can use its weight against it.' She closely watched the youkai still. 'Well…I'm to slow to get any close. It uses its speed for close range attacks, so I can't let it close to me. However, if I keep my distance, the youkai would just use its tails to attack long-distance instead. If only its tails could be kept out of the way… That's it! If I can carry out an attack that will hit precisely and powerfully enough, it should get its tails out of the way and drag some of its weight to slow it down! But I won't be able to take out all three tails at once, I'm going to have to take them out one by one.'

Having a plan ready, Kagome felt adrenaline pump throughout her whole body. As if the dragon youkai felt her new rising confidence, ready to charge at her once again. Taking advantage of the youkai's slip up by mistaking her as done for and giving her a chance to keep up with it, she was able to see the incoming assault.

She was able to see the youkai's weight shift from one clawed foot to the other, letting her know it was about to charge at her once again. Instantly, she jumped aside, dodging the youkai before it rammed into her. Not able to stop instantly due to the momentum it had obtained from the mad dash to attack, the youkai passed Kagome a little, putting its tails right in front of her.

Without another thought, she summoned her miko energy to her hands easily, just like she had trained and learned for many weeks. Feeling the warm energy in her hands, she placed both of them on one of the three tails and sent a wave of energy through her hands to the tail.

An earsplitting roar of pain erupted from the youkai as her energy purified its tail, falling to the ground, limp. To quick for Kagome to sense it, the youkai spun around, striking her with its two tails square on her chest, sending her across the clearing.

She hit the ground hard. For a moment, she could not move from the pain all over her body. As she tried to get up, she felt a sudden pain under her right breast. As she touched her side, she felt a broken rib. Holding her side and deciding to not let the injury stop her, Kagome stood up.

As she stood, she found the youkai staring at her with such malice in its stare; she felt a shiver course her entire body. She looked down at its tails. Two tails swayed dangerously around the youkai's body while the third lay motionless on the ground. Noticing her stare fixed on its tails, the youkai grew into a rage.

The youkai raised its head towards the sky. Then, Kagome could feel power building in the youkai's mouth so fast, she didn't realize what the youkai was planning on doing until the last moment. The youkai brought down its head from the sky, directing his stare on Kagome, opened its mouth and released an immense flare of black fire.

With adrenaline still pumping in her body, she quickly moved aside, dodging the flames but still felt the intense heat. Yet the youkai had no intention of letting up. It made the flames still coming from its mouth follow, moving its head towards her. Kagome ran from it as she found the opportunity to attack again.

Before the youkai realized it had left its self wide open by becoming distracted with her, she sprinted around the youkai, getting distance between herself and the dark flames. As she got behind it, she grabbed the tail closest to her, and sent another energy wave from her hand to its tail, too fast for the youkai to have figured out what she was doing until it was too late.

An immense black flare of fire shot through the sky, along with a thunderous roar of pain and rage. Just then, Kagome saw the youkai's last tail move to thrust her away from it. Her plan had worked; she had slowed down the youkai and jumped back in time to dodge the strike. Yet due to the pain of her broken rib, she was not able to land on her feet correctly and fell back.

Trying to get up, she clutched her side, trying to ease the pain but to no avail. 'I have to end this now, I've used up a lot of my energy and the pain isn't making things any better. Now that I've slowed it down, I have the chance to use my bow.'

She looked around for her bow and arrows, having dropped them during the battle. She looked behind the youkai and to the right side, saw them laying near the edge of the stream. Looking to her right, she saw the stream was only about 2 or 3 feet away. Her mind quickly came up with a plan and stood up.

The youkai was lost in its rage, wildly spewing out black inferno towards the sky. As it caught sight of movement, it turned towards Kagome. Seeing as she got up, it instantaneously charged towards her, with a look of blood lust on its face. Kagome was able to keep up with the youkai's movement and waited for it to get close.

Seeing it was only a few feet away, she started to run towards the stream. The monstrous youkai followed and as it almost caught up with Kagome, she had reached the stream and dived in. The youkai stopped at the edge of the stream and stood there, watching and waiting for Kagome to resurface.

Seconds passed and the youkai madly began to slash out with its tail, slashing through water and logs from a dam just a few yards away were also suffering the wrath of the youkai's tail. Just then, it felt Kagome's energy again and turned to find her getting out of the water a little further downstream.

Kagome had used the downstream current to get to her bow and arrows quicker and avoiding the dragon altogether. As the youkai sensed her, it turned and once spotting her, it stampeded towards her, filled with rage and fury, running head first, intending to pierce her with its spiked-horn. Moving as quickly as her injury allowed, she ran towards her weapons.

Reaching them, she got her bow and a single arrow, trying to aim right on the dragon's heart. But her vision was waning, the hand on her bow shook; she had pushed herself to hard and started to feel the effects of her perseverance, weak and light-headed. Yet, she tried to aim as best she could and pulled back the bow's string as the youkai came closer to her.

Then a thought struck her. 'What if I miss?'

She then remembered her last words to Shippo and Rin. '_Don't worry about me, I'll be fine, I promise._' With that promise in mind, she pushed away her doubt. 'I won't miss.'

The youkai let out a fierce roar, a foot away from Kagome as she released the arrow.

* * *

Sesshomaru effortlessly dodged Inuyasha's sword as he swung the Tetsusaiga at him. During their whole battle, Inuyasha was not able to land a single blow on him. His strength had definitely increase, it seem, yet he still attacked carelessly. Deciding to finish their "little quarrel", Sesshomaru quickly closed the distance between them in a single leap and locked swords with Inuyasha.

"You bastard! Why are you interested in Kagome all of a sudden? All you've ever tried to do is kill her! You really thought I'm would just let you near her? You're a bigger idiot than I thought!"

"You are the fool, Inuyasha. If harm ever came upon the miko, the blame would fall upon you. You are the one who pulls her into your battles, never considering her safety while you rush into your battles. As for my interest in her, that is of no concern to you. She will be the one to decide for herself if she wishes to learn of my business with her."

"Oh, yeah? Over my dead body!" With that, Inuyasha pushed against his sword.

Inuyasha struggled to push Sesshomaru back, but it was no use, Sesshomaru stood his ground. Deciding to make it quick, Sesshomaru expertly dislodged Tetsusaiga from Inuyasha's hand and swung his sword, releasing an enormous wave of power.

Sensing Sesshomaru's intentions at the last moment, Inuyasha tried to block the blow but he could not hold his ground being that Sesshomaru had cast his attack within spitting distance, forcing Inuyasha back. Not strong enough to hold his ground, Inuyasha was overcome by the blow, tossing him far from the battlefield.

"Inuyasha!" Both, Sango and Miroku, watched as Inuyasha disappeared into the forest. They fought the urge to run to him, fearing that Sesshomaru might turn his sword on them, as they weren't sure how he perceived them. It was Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's first full-on battle without interruptions, Sango and Miroku weren't sure what to expect.

Seeing their hesitation, Sesshomaru turned to face them and saw them stiffen a little. "You might want to go check on Inuyasha. He was not able to take on my strength and seems to have lost consciousness."

That was all they need and they took off running, following the overturned dirt trail left behind by Inuyasha.

Sesshomaru watched them disappear between the trees. 'The half-breed has improved but his brashness will get him killed. It is a wonder how he has managed to stay alive this long.'

The memory of Inuyasha severing his arm pushed itself into Sesshomaru's thoughts. Letting out a low growl, he clenched his fist tightly. 'That one occurrence was only fortune at his side. It will not happen again. In the end, we shall see how long that fortune lasts him.'

A feeling of sudden urgency interrupted his thoughts. Soon after, he felt Ah-Un, Rin, and the young kitsune heading towards his direction. However, he was not able to feel Kagome's energy any where with them. What he found more unusual was the fact that all three of them radiated the same exact feeling, extreme anguish.

A few moments and they came into sight. Ah-Un quickly approached Sesshomaru but did not land while Rin called out to him.

"Sesshomaru-sama, you have to help Kagome-sama, she's in danger!"

Sesshomaru could practically see Rin's anguish radiating off her whole body. "What has happened, Rin?"

"A demon…it came so fast. She…Kagome-sama…she stayed behind so it would not follow us. Please Sesshomaru-sama, you have to help her!" She was so scared for Kagome; her mind couldn't grasp any thought except getting Kagome help.

"Please, Lord Sesshomaru, please help her!" Shippo couldn't get the image of Kagome facing away from them to confront the demon that had terrified her but decided to stay behind for their safety. He couldn't lose Kagome; he wouldn't be able to bear it. All he could do now was beg Lord Sesshomaru to help her.

Even Ah-Un whined for his master to help the miko. He had grown to care for her, consequently from all the treats she gave him as well as her gentle touch when she would pet them whenever accompanying Rin to her visits with the miko.

Feeling compelled to help Kagome seeing as that she had gotten Rin out of danger, decided not to leave the miko to her fortune. Sesshomaru turned and with his incredible speed, headed towards Kagome's direction without another word, Rin and Shippo following behind atop Ah-Un.

As Sesshomaru got closer to the clearing where Kagome had met up his pack, he traveled with anticipation of what he would find. He knew Kagome had grown incredibly stronger yet he did not know the strength of the youkai she faced. If he witnessed she had handled the youkai well enough and stood on her feet, he would know her skill and power have no connection with luck.

Yet, as he cleared the trees and arrived at the clearing, what he discovery was not one single possibility that had come across his mind yet should have.

* * *

Ok, I'm so sorry that it has taken me so long to update. I had to deal with no internet for a while, then work, writers block, and not to mention how HARD this chapter was for me to write. I have never had to write a fighting scene so I wasn't sure how to approach this chapter at first. But I think I did an alright job. But what I want to know is what you readers think. Hopefully I haven't lost any readers but if I did, I would have myself to blame. What I look most foward to is for my regular reviewers to review. Please guys, you have been there since the beginning! Now, for the readers who reviewed my last chapter:

Thank you to

-crazykenz

-sousie

-casedeputy

-princess of the western lands

-Eurwen de Vrill

-MioneluvsDraco

-Mally

-Violeteyes

-i-just-hugged-you

and

-Mi Unica

Thank you for your reviews! Really appreciate them. Oh, and I would also like to mention that its funny how some of you can predict right on the dot what is going to happen next in the story. ^_^


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